Public Sector News

Wirral University NHS Foundation Trust has made significant improvements in reducing waiting times for patients needing routine surgery, Monitor announced recently.

The regulator also said that the Board has made important improvements in the way it runs the Trust. As a result, Monitor has decided it is no longer in significant breach of its terms of authorisation as a Foundation Trust.

In March 2012, Monitor originally stepped in because the Trust was persistently failing to meet the national standard for referring patients for treatment within 18 weeks. The regulator also had concerns about the way the Board was run. In particular, the Trust had been slow to act in addressing poor performance in the hospital.

Since February 2012 the Trust has consistently achieved the standard for referring patients for treatment within 18 weeks, as set out in the NHS constitution. In addition, the Board implemented changes to tackle weaknesses in its quality governance and clinical engagement and improved its information technology and data systems.